


Arachnid Avenger

by therealassistant



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: So yeah, i am my own beta reader, i have about 20 things i need to work on but god nothing will stop me from writing this, i wanna be shot just like uncle ben was, in this house we love and appreciate grandma and grandpa momota, ships will be added the longer the story goes on, slams fist on the table: SPIDERMAN AU SPIDERMAN AU, you think i would stop at a batman au? smh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-04-30 15:48:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14500335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealassistant/pseuds/therealassistant
Summary: He used to think that once he'd become a hero, nothing would really hurt him anymore. That his life couldn't get worse, but only better.Oh how wrong he was.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> me, climbing out of my swamp a month late with a new fic: hey so i just rewatched the old spiderman movies and the spectacular spiderman cartoon and had an Idea
> 
> updates for this fic will be so sporadic yall have no idea. Although the first few chapters of this fic will come fast.
> 
> it was either this or an iron man au and I dont have enough info on Iron man to do a proper au (I'm only recently reading a lot more of his comics) and ive fucking LOVED Spiderman since i was little so this will be so much fun.
> 
> disclaimers: i own nothing.

"Alright, just a few more stretches..."

The man on the rooftop leans to the side, one hand on his hip while he raises his other arm over his head. Truthfully, he didn't want to do this, the mask he wore on his face was stuffy, and he could already feel his sweat sticking to the back of his neck.

Still, he couldn't help himself. Even after stopping a few crimes before, he still got stage fright. Who wouldn't, really? He went up against multiple armed men with nothing but his fists and a few gadgets and a costume he made in his spare time. 

Even so, he still needs to do it. From his perch on the rooftop, as he switches his arm's positions, he can already tell that the cops won't be able to catch the criminals in the car chase, and even if they do get close, it's possible that a civilian could be harmed sooner or later.

Finally, after a few more quick stretches, he walks to the edge of the rooftop, flexing his fingers as he narrows his eyes behind the mask. "... Showtime."

Right when he's about to push off the roof, a sharp sound echos across the rooftop, namely, the air-horn sound he had picked for a certain someone's ringtone, just to catch his attention and let him now that if he did miss this phone call, he would most certainly get killed in the next 24 hours. 

Without moving from his spot on the roof, he turns just a bit, raising his arm to aim at his backpack before pressing a button on a device attached to his wrist. 

A thin webbing shoots out of the device, hitting the backpack he had thrown on the rooftop earlier before he sharply tugs the webbing towards him. The backpack flies across the rooftop in seconds, the sound of the ringtone almost annoyingly loud at this point as he lifts up his mask to uncover his mouth, only having to dig into his backpack for a moment before finding his cellphone. 

Quickly, he tosses his backpack behind him gently before answering the phone, watching the car chase down below with growing anxiety. "Hello Grandma, is something-?"

_"Kaito, sweetie, where are you right now?"_

Kaito looks around for a moment as he tries to find some sort of excuse before looking back down at the streets below, biting his lip once he sees how far the car holding the robbers were. He didn't have time to talk, he had to move now.

Without thinking, he dives off the building, his phone still in one hand. Before he can fall that far, he raises his free hand, activating the device on his wrist to shoot webbing out and have it attach to one of the many tall buildings around him as he replies. "J-Just walking around downtown with some friends."

He hears his grandma hum in thought as he swings towards another building, letting go of the webbing he had in his right hand to switch the phone into it, using his now free hand to latch onto the next building with his webbing. _"Which friends, Kaito? Are you talking about that Saihara boy? Or maybe the one with all the piercings? Runtaro?_

Kaito can't help but chuckle at his grandma's fumble, although it's more breathless as he swings to the next building, once again switching hands with the phone. "It's Rantaro, Grandma. But no, it's just Shuichi."

He feels a bit bad for lying to his grandma, but he can't think about it for long as he finally arrives just above the cars with the criminals inside, who don't seem to notice him just yet. His grandma's voice is almost dull noise at this point, yet the warmth and reassurance is something Kaito can still feel from it as she spoke. _"Well, tell him I said hi. Now go and have fun Kaito, don't let this old lady ruin your fun, and remember that your grandma loves you."_

Kaito can't help the smile from appearing on his face, yet the guilt is now twisting his stomach into a knot at this point. He's surprised that he can keep his voice steady as he replies. "I will, Grandma. Love ya too, see you soon."

He waits for his Grandma to hang up before he pulls his phone away from his ear, about to pocket it before remembering that his suit doesn't even have pockets in the first place. 

He groans, glaring down at the cars below him, knowing he couldn't go back to the rooftop to put the phone away, before settling on the first idea that comes to mind.

Without second thought, he places the phone inside his mouth, making sure that his jaw had a firm grip on it before he simply lets go of the webbing, angling himself to that he landed on the car while it was moving.

Sure enough, he landed on the top of the black car with a dull thud, most likely alerting the thugs inside. 

Or so he thought, as even when Kaito tensed up and prepared for some sort of attack, nothing happened. Cautiously, he moves so that he could peak into the driver's window, his field of vision now upside down as he looked through the tinted windows.

Just as he predicted, there were thugs inside the car, about three of them to be exact. One in the driver's seat, one in the passenger's side, and one in the back. Yet what surprises him is how the three men have yet to notice the costumed young man on their car.

Eventually, he simply knocks on the window, drawing the driver's attention to him, making the motion to roll down the window as he mumbled something through the phone in his mouth. "C'mon, mn, itz cold..."

Much to his disappointment, the man does not role down the window. The criminal's eyes only widen, signaling to the man in the back to shoot the costumed man outside. The man in the backseat easily obliged, aiming his gun towards Kaito with shaky hands, ready to blast him off the side of the car.

Or, he would if Kaito didn't remove the phone from his mouth, turning on the camera function instead of unlocking it, taking a picture with the flash already on. "Say cheese, big guy!"

He could hear the man in the backseat yell in shock at the flash, deducing that he had only blinded the armed man for a moment. A moment was all Kaito needed though as he quickly swung back up and to the hood of the car, placing the phone back into his mouth before using his webbing to shoot the street in front of him, getting the car's tires stuck in it.

The car nearly jolted forward at the sudden stop, this time flipping Kaito off and sending the young man a few feet forward with a surprised yell. Thankfully though, the car doesn't flip over, and he doesn't get that hurt in the fall. He could handle the occasional bruise, and could hide it just as easily if he wanted to.

He didn't have time to celebrate though, as there was another car he had to catch. Before he left, he checked to make sure the thugs inside the car were unconscious, and that the ones that weren't wouldn't be able to run, using the webbing to attach them to the carseats.

Quickly, he takes off into a running start before shooting the webbing out of his wrist device, latching onto the nearby building and pulling himself up. It only takes a few moments for him to catch up to the next car, wasting no time in tracking it down.

Something stops him from jumping on the car though, as some sort of black blob descends from above him before slamming on top of the car below. He's too shocked by the black blob to move for a moment, only watching in dumbfounded silence as the black blob quickly moves into the vehicle.

He does move once he hears the screams of someone from inside the vehicle, and one of the doors is busted off the car, followed by a screaming thug being thrown out.

Kaito quickly swoops down, grabbing the thug by the arm with almost no effort before he swings back up. Once he swings back down again, he sets the man down and shoots webbing at the man from his free wrist, sticking him to whatever surface was nearby.

He mumbles something around the phone in his mouth in annoyance as another thug is thrown out of the car, yet he still grabs the thug and repeats the same process he did with his fallen comrade. Kaito remained low to the ground, expecting one more thug to be thrown out of the car before he caught up. Thankfully though, no more thugs are thrown out of the car, and he manages to leap onto the top of it with no more incidents.

This time, he wastes no time peaking into the driver's side window. This time though, it's him that freezes up in surprise once he sees who's inside.

In the driver's seat of the car was who he guessed to be the last thug, a claw mark etched across his face, blood dripping off the wound and onto the pure white gag in his mouth. Although this was unexpected, it's at least somewhat normal compared to who was in the backseat of the car.

Someone dressed in some black leather outfit, a woman, sat right behind the man, clicking the claws on the end of her gloves together in a slow rhythm as she smiled towards Kaito. Her face was covered by a black mask with cat ears on the top, hiding most of her face except for her lower jaw, her jet black hair, and bright violet eyes. "Ah, Spiderman, I expected your arrival, and you didn't disappoint."

Now it was Kaito's turn to be confused, pointing to himself with a free hand as he spoke around his phone, or at least tried to. His words came out more as a grunt, even if he did try to say "Who, me?"

The woman didn't seem to acknowledge or care about what Kaito had to say though, only reaching onto her belt with one hand as she sighed. "Still, you're early..." She then rolls down the window next to her, and then raises her hand to reveal what she had grabbed off her belt.

Despite the woman's outlandish outfit, the object was quite simple, so simple that even Kaito could recognize it, his eyes going wide as he looked at the grenade in the woman's hands.

And how she casually tosses it outside.

He doesn't hesitate to let go of the car, jumping off it with ease to the road below. His eyes dart around behind the mask, spotting the grenade a few seconds later rolling down the street towards a car heading in the opposite direction.

He sprints towards the grenade, before eventually using his webbing to grab it. He's just about to try and throw it upwards in a panic in some attempt to try and reduce the casualties when he finally notices that the pin on the grenade hadn't even been pulled out. 

Kaito curses under his breath as he looks back up, using his free hand to latch himself onto the nearest building with his webbing, running about four or so floors up before he simply holds onto the side, looking down the streets below for the missing car.

Yet no matter how hard he looks down, any signs of the car from before is gone, with the woman and thug inside along with it.

###### 

It takes him awhile to dig his apartment key out of his backpack, yet when he finally finds it, he wastes no time in opening the door, hanging his purple jacket onto the coat racket next to the door as he yelled out. "Grandma, I'm hoooome!"

It takes awhile for his grandma to finally respond, quickly taking off his shoes, which looked more like slippers, before she finally replies. "Welcome home dear, leftovers are in the fridge in case you didn't eat anything while you were with your friend."

It takes a few seconds for Kaito to realize why his grandma had said that, the guilt of the lie he gave before coming back full force. He doesn't allow it to show though as he makes his way to his room, adjusting the backpack on his shoulders as he waved towards his grandma on the couch. "Thanks Grandma, I'll have some after I drop off some stuff in my room."

His grandma doesn't turn to him, but she does wave back as she replies. "Okay dear..."

He looks at his grandma for a few minutes before he retreats back into his room down the hall, quietly shutting the door behind him.

It's a small space, fit with a small closet and a bed that didn't even have a bed frame but was just a simple mattress, a desk decorated with multiple novels about space and science right across from it. Aside from that, the room was quite neat, well, by Kaito's standards anyway. 

For now, he simply went up to his desk, throwing his backpack onto his bed before opening a drawer and grabbing the only thing inside it to check if he got any texts from who he had dubbed Madame Web, much to the woman on the other end of the phone's dismay. Yet she had still remained in contact with the young man, giving him texts concerning crimes that he needed to stop and any tips on how to deal with his new powers after the incident with his grandfather.

He shivered at the thought of his grandfather and what happened to the old man. He had been brash, arrogant even, and gaining powers didn't help. He had tried to get money with them at first, and while it did work for awhile, it had backfired on him, and eventually, his grandfather, he...

Kaito quickly shakes his head, running a hand down his face before looking back down at the phone in his hand. Now wasn't the time to think about his grandfather, no, now was the time for answers, and sure enough, he was sure he was going to get some once he saw the text he got.

_MW: You met her, didn't you?_

Kaito scoffs, shaking his head as he mumbles out a reply. "Met her? She almost gave me a fucking heart attack..." He still had the grenade in his backpack, and while he knew it probably wasn't a good idea to bring it with him, it was probably a worst idea to leave it behind. 

It takes him a few moments to formulate a response, and once he does, he quickly types it into the phone. 

_SM: You bet I did. Who the fuck was she, and what was she doing? Hell, what were those guys even stealing?_

For awhile, Kaito doesn't get a response, and he almost leaves the room in frustration. There were a few times before where Madame Web refused to answer his questions, and this wouldn't be the first time if she did it now, although it was certainly becoming the most frustrating. Right when he's about to put the phone away though, he finally receives a text back.

_MW: Her name is Black Cat, as for what she was doing and what exactly those thugs were stealing. I can't say._

Without thinking, Kaito quickly types out his reply.

_SM: Bullshit, you know what that cat lady did to me? Almost gave me a damn heart attack with a grenade. A grenade! I've been doing your errands for too long, and I deserve at least some answers!_

This time, the text from Madame Web comes back almost too quickly, shocking Kaito for a moment before he reads the reply.

_MW: Fine then, I was planning to do this for awhile anyway. I'll answer all your questions tomorrow. Meet me at 4 pm by the coffee place everyone goes to downtown._

It takes awhile for Kaito to try and recall any famous coffee shops in the downtown area before he settles on what she could be talking about.

_SM: ... You don't know the name of that place? Lady, it's not even a coffee shop, it's a doughnut shop. The place is called Despair Doughnuts._

_MW: Do you want answers or no?_

Kaito holds back the snort of laughter from escaping his mouth, even if no one was around to hear it, beginning to type in his answer before his grandma's words once again cut through his thoughts. "Kaito, I warmed up your dinner! Hurry up before it gets cold again."

"Coming, Grandma!" He yells over his shoulder before looking down at his phone, only typing the word "please" into it before turning it off and stuffing it back into the drawer, his mind running amok at the implications of what Madame Web had said.

The woman had been shrouded in mystery ever since Kaito had found the cellphone in his room, and he had only heard her voice one time from a phone call from when he first found the phone.

The call had been short and to the point. Essentially, she explained that she knew nearly everything about what Spiderman was capable of, what the origin of his powers were, hell, even what the costume and web fiber he used were made of. She also knew one more very, very important fact.

And that fact was that Kaito Momota was Spiderman.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told yall that the first few updates would come up pretty fast right? Well here it is, chapter two of the spiderman au! I hope yall enjoy!
> 
> disclaimer: i own Nothing

The next morning, Kaito barely manages to make it into the class, nearly busting the door down. He manages to stop his dead sprint into the door at the last second though, and forces himself to only open the door quickly.

Inside, he was greeted by the usual crowd of people that were in the same class as him, all of them already in their own groups talking to each other. He barely manages to catch a few tidbits of some conversations as he walks over to his desk in the back of the class, readjusting his jacket and backpack as he moved so they weren't so crooked on his body.

"Hey, did you guys hear about what happened yesterday?"

"You mean with the chase that happened downtown? Everyone had heard about that already, dumbass! Spiderman was there, so it was a given."

"No, I don't mean that! I've heard that there was someone else at the scene..."

The conversation goes quiet as Kaito quickly makes it to his desk, barely making it as the final bell rings across the building, only able to drop his backpack down next to his seat. Normally, one would have at least a few more precious seconds to sit down, but for class 79 of Hopes Peak High, a merciless being watched over the students like a hawk when the teacher himself was absent, and that merciless being took the form of the class representative.

"Kaito Momota, why are you not in your seat?"

Kaito flinches at the voice, usually so soft but now strict. He doesn't dare turn around for a few tense moments, the entire classroom falling into a hushed silence as they stared at both Kaito and the person who spoke. 

Slowly, Kaito turns around, to face the other, still tense, laughing nervously as he quickly looks away and towards his desk. "A-Ah, well, I went to go and pick something up for a... Uhm... Friend..?"

Kirumi Tojo's eyes narrow in suspicion at Kaito's words, and the purple haired man could already see that she didn't believe him for a second. Before she can say anything else though, a voice pipes up from behind him, the soft tone somehow cutting through the tension in the room. "H-He's telling the truth, Kirumi. I dropped something on my way in, and I-I asked Kaito to grab it..."

Without even looking behind him to see who had spoken, Kaito now looks back up towards Kirumi, his smile less forced now, although it was more smug than thankful. "Yeah, that's right! Now if you'll excuse me!"

Without waiting for a response, he walks past Kirumi, careful not to bump into her as he walked between her and the desks towards the front door of the classroom. He could practically feel her gaze boring into his neck as he bent down, pretending to look around the floor to try in an attempt to ignore her gaze. While the young woman was usually a sweet, gentle soul, moment's like these only served to remind not only Kaito, but the entire class of one reason why they elected her, and that was for her determination towards the job itself.

Still, Kaito only found the other terrifying at times like these, and tried to think of some sort of response to his friend to try and keep up this silly illusion. 

Before he can think of something to say, the front door of the classroom opens, a cheery voice following it. "S-Sorry I'm late! Traffic was bad, and-!"

The voice was suddenly cut off as the door slammed into Kaito's face, the silence in the room staying for a few moments more before quickly replaced by laughter as Kaito jumped back, covering his face as he gave a pained yell.

"O-Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" The voice from before cuts through the laughter, and Kaito uncovers his eyes to look at who spoke, about to give the other person a piece of his mind before he sees who exactly he was about to yell at.

He forces himself to calm down, moving his hands so that they now were clasped together behind his head, forcing a reassuring smile onto his face, even though it still stung. "Don't worry about it, Kaede. I'm fine. Besides, it was just an accident, right?"

The blonde gives the young man a disbelieving look, before it quickly morphs into one of relief and then into worry, all in a matter of seconds. "Are you sure..? Not to be rude, Kaito, but you kind of look like hell."

Kaito can't help the sudden urge to look away from Kaede in some attempt to hide the rest of his face. While he was sure that he had used the right amount of blush on his face to hide any bruises, he still wasn't really used to using it.

Thankfully, before anything else could be said, someone quickly walked up to him, their hands fidgeting nervously as they approached Kaito. "I-I'm so sorry! If I knew that would have happened, I wouldn't have said anything!"

Kaito quickly jumps onto the open opportunity to change the subject, his smile returning as he looked down at his anxious friend, gently patting the other's back as he replied. "Bro, listen to me. It's not your fault. I know you're not as cruel as, I dunno, Kokichi. Now that little fucker would have pulled this sort of shit, no question."

"No I wouldn't have! Kaito, stop saying mean things about me!"

Kaito scowls towards the front of the classroom, where the much shorter man, Kokichi, sat. "Shut up, Kokichi!" He then looks back towards his friend, placing the smile back onto his face easily, as if nothing had happened. "But seriously, Shuichi, it's not your fault..."

He hears Kaede give an embarrassed laugh behind him, barely seeing her move out of the corner of his eye so that she was now visible to the raven haired young man. "He's right y'know. Besides, I was the one that pushed the door into Kaito's face, not you. So don't blame yourself, alright?"

The raven haired man looks back and forth between the two, his eyes barely visible under the black hat he wore, before he eventually looks away, tipping his hat downwards just a bit to hide his face from sight before he finally replies. "... Okay, th-thank you... Ah, wait." He then bends down and picks something off the floor that Kaito hadn't seen before, shaking it a bit to clear some dirt off before standing up, a pen now in his hand. "There it was."

"... Wait. Wait a minute." Kaito can feel his eyes widen in disbelief as he stares at the pen in the other's hand. "You actually dropped something over here? You didn't lie about that?"

Shuichi stares at Kaito for a moment with a blank expression on his face before he shrugged, turning around and moving back to his desk as he replied. "No, and I don't get why you're so surprised. I get so anxious whenever I lie that you can immediately tell that I'm lying."

Kaede hums in agreement as she follows Shuichi to the back of the classroom, since she did sit down in front of him. "He's right. I really don't know how you didn't realize that."

Kaito scoffs as he follows Kaede, speechless for a few seconds, only able to get a few unintelligible words to leave his mouth before he's finally able to speak. "Wh... W-Well, it's not like I was looking at him while he was talking!"

Unbeknownst to the three as they bickered, two sets of eyes watched the three in silence. One gaze held nothing but malice, a sort of hidden evil deep within them, while the other only held apprehension, knowing that whatever happen next would likely change the lives of all three of the people in front of them for the worst.

###### 

Thankfully, the rest of school passed quite normally. Well, normal by the school's standards. Outside of some of his classmate's antics, the day was relatively peaceful, and he didn't have to sneak outside to change into Spiderman that day either, the phone he had gotten from Madame Web long ago strangely silent in his bag.

Usually, he wouldn't dare to bring the phone outside of his room in the chance that he dropped it and someone somehow saw the texts inside. Today was an exception though, as today was going to be the day that he met the mysterious woman that had essentially become his mentor.

Before he passes the school's front gate though, he's stopped as a voice gently grabs his shoulder, yet it stops Kaito's in his tracks. "Hey, Kaito, can we talk for a minute?"

Kaito freezes up before immediately forcing himself to relax, turning around with a small smile to look at the person behind him, readjusting the backpack on him once again as he moved. "Yeah, sure, what's up Rantaro?"

Despite the smile Kaito gave him, Rantaro did not return it, as he usually did. Instead, he waits for Kaito to fully face him before he replies. "I'm worried about Shuichi."

Now this caught Kaito's attention. "Shuichi? What about him? He hasn't done anything wrong."

This time, Rantaro does chuckle a bit at that, although it sounds empty, and the frown on his face didn't help either. "I know, it's just that he seems... More depressed than usual? I've heard he's helping out his uncle a bit with those serial killings that have been popping up lately. You've heard about those, right?"

Kaito nodded without any hesitation. He had read about the serial killings of multiple young women in the newspaper, and it came to no surprise that Shuichi was trying to help his uncle solve it. He knew about Shuichi's goal to become a detective in the future, and he was all for supporting his friend's goal, even if he couldn't really do anything besides cheer him on. "Yeah, I've heard about them, but I didn't know Shuichi was working on the case... Do you want me to check up on him?"

Now Rantaro flashed his usual smile, a relieved sigh leaving his mouth as he nodded his head just a bit in thanks. "That'd be great, thank you. I'd do it myself, but I'm not as close to him as you are. And I've been super busy with helping out at my father's business, so-"

His voice is cut off as a loud honk resounds from the front gate of the school, causing Kaito to flinch while Rantaro gave another dry laugh. "Well, speak of the devil." He begins to retreat towards the front gate as he waves to Kaito, that smile still on his face, although now it seemed a bit more strained. "Later Kaito, and don't forget to call Shuichi tonight, okay?"

Kaito only manages to wave back before Rantaro disappears into the car at the front gate before it quickly speeds off in the direction of the company Rantaro's father owned. Kaito watched the car until it vanished down the street before looking at his phone, only to take a sharp intake of breath once he noticed that he only had ten minutes to get to the downtown area. He knew it was about fifteen minutes by train, and an even longer walk.

... But he did have one mode of transportation left.

He quickly sprints off of the school property, although he made sure to keep his speed in check just so people wouldn't notice how inhuman it was. It took him only a few minutes to make it to somewhere out of sight, and even if it was a dirty alleyway, it wasn't like he was going to be that picky about this sort of thing.

Quickly, he runs into the alleyway, using one hand to reach into his backpack to grab the mask he had inside while he took his jacket off with the other. Once his jacket was off, he put it inside his backpack, no longer showing the most defining clothing he wore, before he put the mask on his head. Before he began climbing, he reached into his bag one more time, grabbing the web shooting devices and attaching them to his wrist and putting his phone inside the bag before slinging his backpack over his back once again.

Once he was done, he quickly latched onto the wall with his hands, easily climbing up onto the rooftop in a matter of seconds. Once he was on the rooftop, he wasted no time sprinting to the other side and jumping off the building, allowing himself to fall for only a few seconds before he activated the web shooters on his wrist, latching one web onto the building and swinging from that.

For a few minutes, Kaito lets go of all his problems as he swings from building to building in the direction of the doughnut shop, briefly forgetting about the lies he told his grandma, about the bruises that covered his body, and the troubles that not only his Spiderman persona brought, but also what daily school life brought to him. No, he only thought about the rush of adrenaline he got from flying from building to building, the cool air as comforting as the blankets on his bed.

His sense of freedom doesn't last long though as he eventually makes it to the downtown area, dropping down onto a roof a few buildings away from his meeting place with Madame Web. He looked down into the alleyway on the side of the building, making sure no one was down there before he crawls back to the ground. Once his feet touch the ground, he rips off the mask quickly, taking his jacket out of his bag before stuffing the mask inside. He didn't bother with hiding the web shooters once he sees that he only had a few moments left before he was supposed to meet with Madame Web, deciding that he would use his jacket sleeves to hide them instead. 

Once he was done putting both his jacket and backpack on, he sprinted out of the alleyway, careful not to bump into anyone as he ran into the doughnut shop. Thankfully, he gets there with one minute to spare, and nearly yells out in victory until he sees the tired looking employee behind the counter. 

He simply laughs sheepishly, readjusting the crooked backpack on his shoulders before he moves to sit on one of the many stools inside the shop near the window, hoping to catch Madame Web walk inside. For a moment, as he sits down on one of the stools, he wondered what exactly the woman looked like. Her voice was a bit scrambled over the phone, but it did have a young tone to it, yet the voice was quite posh and almost elegant.

Kaito doesn't have to wait long though, as once the clock hits four, he hears the sound of footsteps approaching behind him, almost too soft to hear, before a quiet, elegant sounding voice speaks up. "... I'm actually surprised you got here early."

Kaito's eyes widen at the voice, at first not turning around. That voice was familiar, too familiar. Hell, he had heard it this morning for goodness sake! Yet seeing was believing, and once he turned around, he can somehow feel his eyes somehow widening a bit more once he sees Kirumi behind him. 

It takes awhile for Kaito to speak, but once he does, his voice is quiet, barely heard in the crowded shop. "... You... Y-You're..?"

Kirumi simply nods her head, yet a small, almost smug smile appears on her face as she does. _"Yes, I am Madame Web."_

Kaito nearly jumps once he realizes that Kirumi's mouth didn't move when she spoke, and he's about to run out of the shop before he realizes that he also had inhuman abilities as well, forcing himself to relax and lean against the table behind him just a bit, although he still was a bit tense. "W-Well, it's nice to meet you..." He nearly slaps himself for stuttering, but forces himself to continue speaking. "So, you're going to explain what happened yesterday, right?"

Kirumi nods, reaching into the bag at her side before taking a small folder out and handing it to Kaito, who takes it out of her hand almost too quick, only to get confused once he sees the words "Science Homework" on the front, with papers relating to the notes they took today in said class inside. Before Kaito can question it though, Kirumi once again "speaks" to Kaito. _"Look underneath the fourth, seventh, and the tenth sheet of paper, you'll find what you'll need there."_

At first, he gives the other a skeptic look before he obliges, only to have Kirumi's statement proved true, as underneath the fourth sheet was a document related to Black Cat.

_Name: Black Cat_

_Real Identity: Unknown_

_MO: While Black Cat seems like a petty thief at first glance, there is evidence to suggest that she has had a hand in taking out multiple crime bosses and gangs. While dangerous, she has yet to kill anyone, or attempt to do so. Most attempts to figure out her identity prove futile, and there is also some proof suggesting that she had faked both her eye and hair color, so most data regarding her physical features have been disregarded._

Kaito rereads the paper before looking at the photo attached to the bottom of the paper. In the photo seemed to be the exact same woman Kaito had met the other day, with the exception of a diamond being in her hand instead of a grenade, flashing a smile as she gave a peace sign to, who he supposed was, the person behind the camera.

Well, at least she had a sense of humor.

It took him awhile before he finally looked up to Kirumi, finally holding a genuine smile with the other woman as he nodded in thanks. "Thank you for giving this to me, Kirumi. I'm honestly still kind of surprised that you're actually here..."

This time, Kirumi actually curtsies, that slightly smug smile still on her face as she did. "Please, you don't need to thank me, it's my pleasure." Once she's standing straight once again, the smile is gone from her face, replaced by her usual neutral frown as she looked towards Kaito. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I actually have some important stuff to do at home-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute." He reaches forward and grabs Kirumi's arm without thinking, although he was careful not to hurt her as he did. "Come on, I know we've technically just met for the first time and all, even if we have been talking for, about what, weeks now? But I know nothing about you besides you're the class rep, and can do that weird talking thing. Can't we just try to, I dunno, be friends or something? Tell each other about ourselves a bit?"

Surprisingly, Kirumi doesn't seem upset about being suddenly grabbed, almost looking as if she expected it to happen. For a few seconds, she also seems to actually consider what Kaito said, yet before she can say anything, the sound of police sirens cuts through the small shop, causing everyone to look outside to see multiple police cars speed by.

Kirumi casually removes Kaito's arm from her shoulder while he was distracted by the cop cars outside, and when he turned back around, her back is to him as she walks to the exit of the shop. _"I think that's your cue to suit up, Spiderman."_

For a second, he could only watch as Kirumi walked out of the doughnut shop, feeling as if he was unable to even stop her from doing so, before he finally realizes what exactly she was implying. Reluctantly, he grabs the folder Kirumi had given him, shoving it into his backpack as he mumbled under his breath. "I left the costume at home, though..."

###### 

He makes it to the bank just as the police did, although he could already tell where exactly they were heading due to the loud alarm he had started hearing only a few minutes after following the cars down below. Unlike the officers though, he wastes no time getting inside, bracing himself as he swings forward on his web, letting go of the web before curling up a bit and crashing through the large window on the front of the bank, ignoring how some glass bites into his bare arms.

He rolls forward a few feet before he stops, using one hand to steady himself on the ground while he kept his other one free just in case he needed to swing away. Thankfully, the criminals inside the building stopped moving once Kaito had swung through the window, now staring at the masked man in surprise as he quickly regained his footing. "... Hey, is that really Spiderman? Where's his costume-?"

Before the thug was finished speaking, Kaito uses his webbing to tape the man's mouth shut, narrowing his eyes behind the mask as he ran towards him. It wasn't really his fault that he only had his mask on him, and it's not like he could give a real reason as to why he had to wear just his street clothes with the mask, but the comment still annoyed him just a bit. "Hey, I'll have you know, getting stains off that thing is a nightmare!" Before the thug can react, he wraps his arms around the taller man's head, then proceeds to throw him into another thug before webbing the both of them up at once. "Thankfully, I had enough money to do some dry cleaning! Unlike you guys, but I mean, I'm not desperate enough to rob a bank just to clean some clothes-"

He stops speaking at the sound of a gun cocking, yet when he turns around, instead of seeing a thug aiming a gun at him, he sees Black Cat quickly chop the guy's neck, catching him before he falls to the ground, allowing the gun to clatter to the ground with a dull thunk.

For a second, Kaito panics, thinking that the other had somehow broken the thug's neck before Black Cat glares at him, placing her hands to her hips after she sets the thug onto the ground. "Don't give me that look! I didn't kill him, I just knocked him out!"

Kaito blinks in surprise before he scowls behind his mask, yet he continues to beat up another thug that runs up to him as he yells at the Black Cat. "What the hell are you even doing here!? Are you stooping so low now that you're robbing banks?"

Black Cat sends a scowl towards him in return as she moves onto another thug, taking him out almost as easily as Kaito did as she replied. "Of course not! I already got what I came for here, these yahoos just started to rob the place when I was finishing up!"

"... Yahoos? How old are you, fifty? Is that mask hiding some wrinkles? Or are you just that good at makeup?"

The masked woman groans, before quickly pushing a thug in Kaito's direction, who proceeds to web the man up easily. "Just shut up and help me take them out, alright?!"

At her words, Kaito can't help the smile that creeps onto his face underneath the mask, bowing just a bit before he proceeds to kick a thug in the face. "Your wish is my command, m'lady."

His quip is quickly cut off as Black Cat throws another thug in his direction, causing him to give a small yelp before jumping out of the way, proceeding to attach the man to another thug with by their hands with his webbing before slamming their heads together. "Hey, watch where you're throwing!"

In response, Black Cat laughs, a familiar smile appearing on her face as she knocks another thug out before facing Kaito once again. "What's wrong? I thought you liked helping out the elderly? Or do you just like to help them cross the street?"

This time, Kaito kicks the last thug in her direction, scowling once again underneath his mask as he did. "Why I'll have you know! Last week, I helped an old lady get her cat out of a tree!"

"Aw, what a hero!" Much to Kaito's dismay, Black Cat easily takes out the thug, nearly flipping him over her shoulder before slamming him into the ground. Once she's done, she dusts herself off, sighing before she suddenly winces, covering her face with one hand as she moaned. "Ow, okay... Note to self, getting punched in the face doesn't start hurting until after the fight ends..."

Before Kaito can question Black Cat, or even check on the other, she turns around, her smile returning as she grabbed something off her belt. "Well, I got what I came here for. Toodles, Spider Boy!" A click resounds across the room, and suddenly, Kaito's vision and lungs are filled with smoke.

It takes awhile for the smoke to finally clear, and once Kaito had finally stopped hacking his lungs, he looked up only to see, to his dismay, that the cat themed thief had already made her escape.

###### 

The boy taps his pencil against the notepad as he watches the news on the small television inside his room, the image of a news anchor standing in front of a bank clear as she gestured to the area behind her. "Just moments ago, a bank robbery was being conducted just a few feet away from us. Inside, the perpetrators of the act are being apprehended by police, although are having some difficulty due to the webbing restraining them. Luckily, no casualties have appeared thanks to the seemingly sudden thief turned hero Black Cat helping civilians escape..."

The rest of the newscast becomes white noise as he writes down something onto his notepad, humming in thought for a moment before his thoughts are suddenly interrupted by his phone ringing on his bed. 

He makes no move to get up and answer it, allowing it to ring before the sound of his inbox plays, followed by the voice of the person calling.

_"... Hey, Shuichi, it's me, Kaito. I'm calling to check up and see how you're doing."_

Shuichi can't help the almost tired sigh that escapes his mouth at the other young man's voice, yet he's still happy to hear it. Honestly, he didn't know how he even became friends with the other, as the other used to be cruel, almost borderline sadistic. Yet he had changed in the past month ever since his Grandfather had died, and Shuichi could somewhat relate to the other due to his own loss of family, and Shuichi had felt the need to try and comfort Kaito. Eventually, the two had, unknowingly to him at first, became friends.

_"You've just seemed more stressed out lately. Just remember not to overwork yourself, alright?"_

Usually, while Shuichi worked, he wouldn't answer the phone, as it only served to distract him. Now though, hearing Kaito's voice seemed to lift his spirits up a little. Hell, maybe talking to his friend would help him out a bit.

As he moves to stand up from in front of his TV though, Kaito continues speaking, and something that almost causes Shuichi to flinch leaves his mouth. _"... Also, this may seem out of nowhere, but if my Grandma asks, tell her that I was over at your place tonight, alright? I'll be running late again, and I don't really wanna explain to her what I was doing, okay? Thanks man, call me back soon."_

This wasn't the first time Kaito had asked something of him, yet it still felt like a slap to the face, just like the other times Kaito had asked, feeling just a bit of anger rise inside him as he glared at the phone on his bed. Of course, Shuichi had helped the young man out before, somehow managing to lie to the nice lady over the phone almost on a semi daily basis, yet Shuichi felt like he was being used, just like how his uncle used him to solve some cases. Yet unlike his uncle, Kaito still refused to tell him the obvious reason as to why he constantly needed Shuichi to lie, and that felt like one of the biggest betrayals that Shuichi has ever felt.

As the beep of the call ending rings across the room though, he sighs, sitting back down on his chair in front of the TV as he forces himself to calm down, looking down at his notepad as he slowly shuts it, the words written on the front of it in black sharpie, "Spiderman Investigation Notes", shining in the dull light as he glares down at it. "It's fine, he'll tell me the truth eventually..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I was going to have an actual villain appear this chapter, but decided that it was a tad bit too early for that. Hopefully though, the next chapter will at least introduce an actual villain that Spiderman faces off against. 
> 
> Once again, I'll look this over more in the morning for any small typos since it's already late once again. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Feedback is welcomed and appreciated, and I hope you all have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally. after planning this all out on like three google docs, I have the story of this fic down. no one shall stop me from finishing this. No One.
> 
> khdfaiu anyway this took me a lot longer than it should have. I'll look it over and fix some small stuff tomorrow when I'm not so tired.
> 
> disclaimers: i own nothing

It takes awhile for Kaito to get back home, but he’s thankful that the sun was still up once he did. He’s only been home after dark only once, but his grandma had given him an earful that would last for years to come.

Still, he decides not to enter through the front door, as that would immediately out himself to his grandma. Instead, he enters through his bedroom window, still wearing his mask as he clung to the side of the building and went through the window.

Once he’s inside, he rips his mask off his face, tossing it into one of the drawers inside his desk before quickly moving to remove the webbing off of his backpack, since he had used some webbing in a rush to grab his backpack off the roof he had left it on.

Even if there only was a little, Kaito soon realized that it wasn’t going to come off, even with his superhuman strength. Eventually, he gives up, deciding that he should just wait until the webbing dissolves off the backpack. Thankfully, the webbing didn’t seal the backpack shut, and Kaito is able to grab his phone from inside of it.

He scrolls through the recent texts for a moment, some of them from work and some from his classmates, only to stop once he saw that Shuichi had texted him.

Shuichi had only asked in the text if Kaito was feeling better, as well as once again saying he’s sorry for what happened today, and Kaito couldn’t help the small amount of annoyance that arose once he read it. After all, a man shouldn’t apologize this much, right?

Eventually, he simply shakes his head. It wasn’t really Shuichi’s fault. It was just how he was. He’d probably grow out of it.

He sets his phone on his desk before reaching into his backpack again, taking out the folder labeled “Science Homework” he had gotten from Kirumi, no, Madame Web, throwing them on the desk and then quickly opening them. He then reaches into his backpack one more time, taking out the web shooters he was using as Spiderman, as well as some of the web fluid he used, before tossing the backpack onto his bed, deciding to adjust the web shooters while he was reading the files. After all, they still needed some tweaking, as they didn’t yet shoot the webbing as far as he wanted to just yet.

As he begins adjusting the web shooters with some tools from inside his drawer, he reads over the second file he had yet to read, hidden by the seventh piece of paper inside the folder.

_List of stolen items that could hint at possible Chameleon involvement, listed by date_

Kaito blinks in surprise at the title of the page before reading it once again, double checking to make sure that he had read that right. “... The Chameleon? Who the hell is the Chameleon?” He then scowls, shaking his head as he mumbled under his breath. “God, I wish she would explain stuff like this to me sooner…”

Despite his clear disapproval, he keeps reading the file, going back to working on the web shooters in some attempt to quell his frustration.

_8/27: Theft reported by Amami Corp. about stolen genetics research, yet it is clear that it has been at least a week since the theft occurred._

_9/14: Theft reported by Doctor Gokuhara, a doctor at Amami Corp, about missing test subjects relating to his research involving gene splicing._

_9/25: Theft reported by Doctor Idabashi, a scientist in Amami Corp. that works in the electronics department. Reported how multiple devices he was working on seemed to be tampered with._

_9/30: Missing person’s report for Hoshi Ryoma, a juvenile delinquent who was last seen entering Amami Corp. a few days ago. Further investigation includes multiple missing persons reports involving Amami Corp., all which started about three years ago with a young girl from an orphanage. Further investigation needed._

As Kaito read more and more notes on the file, he soon started to realize the most obvious connection between every single incident, and it was that each and every single crime involved the company Rantaro’s father was the CEO of.

Another thing Kaito soon realized was that none of it has been reported. He had thought that someone like Tenko would be all over this, considering how serious she was about her reporting career, but she hasn’t said a single word about any of these crimes. So how was he supposed to look deeper into it all?

The third document gave him no clues whatsoever about how to find out more information, just detailing something called a “symbiote”, which Kaito quickly lost interest in once he realized it was going to be no help at all.

He closes the folder as he sighs, now fully focusing on the web shooters on his desk as he thought.

As Kaito Momota, he really had no leverage to get information about what was going on. While he could ask Shuichi about it, he really didn’t want to ask too much of the other man. And Rantaro probably knew little about the inner workings of the company, seeming more focused on traveling than the inner mechanisms of such of a large business.

As Spiderman, he could try and get information out of the CEO by talking to him, but with his alter ego’s reputation now, he would probably get accused of breaking and entering, as well as aggravated assault, thanks to how Tenko thought of the masked hero...

”... Wait a minute…”

He opens the drawer with his phone inside, taking it out and quickly scrolling through the texts before finding the right one, which was sent only a few hours before.

_Chabishira: I’m supposed to be taking photos of Amami Corp. tomorrow, but something’s come up. I don’t like trusting a menace like you, but can you take over for me tomorrow and take some pictures for a story about the genetic research there after school? You’ll even get some cash out of it._

At that moment, Kaito felt like the luckiest person alive, not even bothering to wonder about why Tenko was unavailable tomorrow. After all, why would he even question the free opportunity for some information? Not to mention that he did need some more money to buy some parts for the web shooters.

_Momota: Of course! How could I say no to such an offer from you?_

He got a reply back almost instantly, almost dropping his phone in shock before collecting himself.

_Chabishira: Don’t push it you degenerate male._

###### 

As he walks through the revolving door that leads into the front lobby of Amami Corp., Kaito can’t help but gasp in awe, already lifting the camera wrapped around his neck and snapping a few pictures. While it was still a lobby, it was the lobby of one of the largest and most successful companies in the world, and it showed through the tall ceiling with multiple past experiments hanging from it, with a drone used in the police force being most recognizable, to the receptionist desk that looked as if it was made of glass.

”... Kaito?”

Hearing his name, Kaito quickly stopped taking photos, looking around the lobby for a moment before finally seeing the only person that could have called out to him. He smiled just a bit as he walked towards them, glad to see at least one person he could recognize. “Hey Rantaro, what are you doing here?”

At this, Rantaro actually laughs, pointing towards the logo on top of the receptionist’s desk as he spoke. “Well, my last name is on the company’s logo, so I’m kind of supposed to be here… But I think the better question is, what exactly are you doing here?”

“Ah, well...” He gestures to the camera around his neck. “I’m actually a photographer for the Daily Bugle, and I’m filling in for someone else today, since she’s busy and all…”

Rantaro goes silent for a moment, as if digesting what the other man said, before he responds, an almost knowing smirk on his face as he did. “... Don’t tell me, you’re filling in for Tenko, aren’t you?”

Kaito can’t help the sudden laugh that escapes his mouth. “What gave it away?”

”The fact that you’re not as gung-ho about it as you usually are.” His mirth quickly dies down though, and while Kaito is surprised about it, he doesn’t have the time to question it before Rantaro speaks up. “But if you need some photos… I can take you to one of the labs. I would show you around, but I have to go to a meeting with my Father soon, so...”

While Kaito would like to ask the other man about the meeting, as well as the sudden change in his mood, his need for information ruled that out. Besides, he could always talk to Rantaro later, right? “Really? Thanks man! Show me the way!”

Rantaro gestures to the elevator before walking towards it, not even bothering to check if Kaito was following him as he did. “So, mind telling me what you’re here to take pictures of? It’d give me a good idea on what lab to drop you off in.”

At first, Kaito doesn’t respond. While he was there to take pictures of projects relating to genetics, as well some genetics research being stolen, he didn’t know whether or not he should actually start there, or if he would even end up in the right area at all. He had done some research into Amami Corp. during lunch, only to find that the genetics department was huge.

Although, there was a department in Amami Corp. that was much smaller. “How about we start at the electronics department?”

If Rantaro noticed the sudden pause, he doesn’t say anything, instead pushing the button to open the elevator, walking inside once the doors open, humming just a bit in acknowledgment as he removed his wallet from his pocket. “The electronics department? Nothing much happens there, but hey, you’re the photographer I guess.”

Once Kaito steps inside, Rantaro removes something from his wallet, an ID card of some sort, swiping it on a scanner before quickly pocketing it, much to Kaito’s surprise.

”I, uh… Thought that Amami Corp. was open to the public? You know, kind of like a science museum.”

”Hm? Oh, yeah, that…” Even if Rantaro laughs, it sounds strained, running a hand through his wild hair as he uses the other to point at the scanner. “It was my Dad’s idea. Don’t tell anyone this, but we’ve gotten robbed a few times recently in some labs by a… Ahem, cat burglar.”

Despite Rantaro’s easy going tone, Kaito feels his hands tighten on the camera around his neck. Black Cat was the one robbing Amami Corp.? But didn’t the paper he had gotten say that the thefts related to someone named The Chameleon?

Before Kaito can question the other man, a ding resounds in the small elevator, followed by the elevator doors opening, revealing the inside of the electronics department. Rantaro takes a few steps inside, leaving Kaito behind for a moment before he recollects himself and follows the green haired young man inside.

Actually, now that Kaito was inside the department, it was really only one giant room. Filled top to bottom with dozens upon dozens of machines, making it nearly impossible to actually see if anyone was there.

He’s already taking photos when Rantaro walks deeper into the lab, cupping his mouth before yelling. “Doctor Idabashi! Miu! You guys have a visitor! Be nice!” He then turns to Kaito before placing a hand on the other’s shoulder, nearly causing him to jump. “Hey man, I gotta go. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”

Before Kaito can respond, Rantaro has already walked away, leaving Kaito behind in a mess of machinery and loose wires, which Kaito is sure would have killed him if he wasn't careful.

It takes him a few moments to realize who exactly Rantaro called out for when they entered the lab, and Kaito’s eyes widen before a grin spreads across his face. Damn, he really was just that lucky, wasn’t he?

”Dr. Idabashi..?” He walks deeper into the mess of a lab, hoping that he wouldn’t end up getting more lost the deeper he went inside. “... Dr. Idabashi? I’m a photographer for the Daily Bugle, I’d like to take some pictures of your work..?”

Suddenly, without warning, he feels as if his hair is standing on end, a sharp tingling sensation in the back of his brain causing him to flinch just a bit. He quickly looks around, the sudden feeling of danger creeping into his veins along with that awful sensation.

He screams once he sees the young man behind him, nearly jumping back in fright before he realizes the other was just as terrified as he was, evident by the wide eyes and slightly shaking hands that held a wrench.

”... Holy shit! Were you about to hit me with that?!

The other boy flinches back at the other’s loud voice, holding up his hands in surrender as he took a step back. “N-No! I-I thought you were an intruder, so I just g-grabbed something for p-protection..!”

Before Kaito can respond, there’s a dull crash next to the other, followed by a crude and loud voice. “Kibs, what the fuck is going on over here?! Why the hell are you screaming?”

The silver haired boy in front of him, apparently called “Kibs”, flinched at the loud voice, but didn’t seem as shocked by it, only giving a small, tired sigh as he sets the wrench down on a workbench besides him. “Miu, I’m not the one that screamed..”

A scoff is heard from behind the machine, and the hidden person moves forward just a bit, revealing a mess of blonde hair with goggles on top of it, jabbing “Kibs” with a finger as she did, the sleeves of her lab coat nearly covering her entire hand save her fingers. “If it wasn’t you, then who the fuck..?”

She stops once she spots Kaito, still shaken up, looking him over for a few seconds before she cackles. “Man, who dragged this guy’s sorry ass in here?!”

It takes Kaito a few seconds to properly digest what the other says, still trying to process what exactly he felt before before he saw “Kibs”, but once he does, he quickly retaliates. “H-Hey! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

The girl’s demeanor changes instantly, quickly jumping behind “Kibs”, almost using him as a human shield as she nearly shrieked. “E-Eeeeeek! K-Kibs! Help me out here!”

”What is all that ruckus..?”

This time, Kaito is more prepared for someone else to come out of the mess of parts and other machines, despite the two people in front of him. Thankfully, the old man that appears seems to be the most normal of the three, with a pair of goggles similar to the blonde’s on his silver hair, as well as a lab coat that actually seems to fit him. “... Ah? Were you this visitor Rantaro was talking about?”

Finally, someone that actually listens. “Yep, that’s me!” Kaito jabs his thumb against his chest as he uses the other one to hold up his camera. “I’m Kaito Momota, a photographer for the Daily Bugle, and I’m here to take a few photos relating to some projects inside Amami Corp.! You’re Dr. Idabashi, right?”

The old man nods his head in thought as he hums in confirmation, as if digesting what Kaito had said, before gesturing to the other two people in the room. “Quite right. And that over there is my son, Keebo, as well as my trusted coworker, Miu Iruma.”

While Keebo simply gave a small bow in greeting, Miu once again gave a deafening cackle, spit flying out of her mouth in all directions. “That’s right! I’m the gorgeous girl genius, Miu Iruma! Better remember that for when you come and interview me after my inventions help the entire world!”

‘

Kaito flinches, barely managing to dodge the spit while keeping his superhuman reflexes in check, only to still end up having to wipe some spit off of his face with his jacket sleeve. He tries his best to hide his disgust, instead trying to focus on why he was there. “... Do you guys mind me taking photos of what you’re working on?”

Dr. Idabashi’s smile seems somewhat forced, yet it still radiates warmth as turns back towards the mess of machinery he came from, motioning for Kaito, as well as the other two, to follow. “Of course! Miu, Keebo, can you help set it up while I talk to this nice young man?”

Kaito doesn’t turn to see how the other two people in the room respond, but they must agree with the doctor, quickly running ahead of him to go and, presumably, set up the machine Dr. Idabashi was working on.

Once they’re both out of sight, Idabashi’s strained smile drops, the older man sighing as he removes the glasses from his face, stopping for a moment to clean them of dust with the cloth in his pocket before he finally speaks up. “I’m sorry for my coworker’s rude attitude. She’s somewhat brash, but she does mean well.”

Without thinking twice, Kaito simply nods his head, mumbling out his reply as he snapped a photo of a machine nearby, which looked like some sort of jetpack one could stand on. “It’s nothing. You should see my coworkers. A few days ago, she threw me across the room because I couldn’t get some photos in on time.”

At this, the doctor laughs, placing the glasses back on his face as he turns to face Kaito once again. “While that is concerning, I’m happy to hear you say that. She’s just been…” His frown returns for a moment, a troubling look taking over his features, but it quickly vanishes, as if it never existed. “... Misunderstood. At this point, I think I’m one of the only few people left that actually supports her...”

Before Kaito can respond, he hears a dull clank in the distance, followed by a dull whir and Keebo’s voice, the somewhat shy tone it held making it difficult to hear over the sudden noise. “Father, it’s done..!”

A few more steps forward, and the two finally make it to a flat, open expanse inside the room. Occupying the large amount of space in the center was what Kaito could only describe as a generator, multiple blue sparks dancing across it, occasionally touching the ground. Quickly, Kaito raises his camera, snapping a few photos of it, careful not to get too close. “... What exactly is it?”

”Allow me!”

Once again, that feeling he had before when Keebo stood behind him appears, causing him to shiver, nearly dropping the camera in his hands, only to give a startled yell as a mechanical arm hit the ground in front of him. He looks up to the sound of cackling only to see, to his surprise, that the mechanical arm came from Miu, of all people, who was supported in the air by two other mechanical arms. “What you’re looking at here with your unenlightened, dumbass eyes, was Idabashi’s idea of being energy efficient! With just one of these babies, we could power an entire city, and for a lot less cash to boot!”

Kaito flinches as the arm in front of him shifts a bit, but all it does it lowers Miu to the ground so she now stood in front of both Idabashi and Kaito. Upon closer inspection, Kaito could see that the arms came from some sort of device strapped to her back. Was it possibly used to help handle dangerous experiments? He’d never seen it before, but nonetheless, he was nearly rendered speechless by it. “Ah, that’s, well… Pretty amazing…”

Keebo suddenly reappears from behind the machine, wearing thick rubber gloves and mask, which he removes once he’s a safe distance from it, revealing a somewhat proud smile and bright eyes. “It really is! Father worked really hard on it, and even after that theft a few weeks ago, he-”

”Keebo! I thought I told you not to mention that!”

The sudden yell causes Kaito, Keebo, and even Miu to flinch, while Keebo gave a somewhat apologetic smile, seeming to almost shrink in on himself as he mumbled out his apology. “S-Sorry…”

Huh, Keebo kind of reminded Kaito of Shuichi, not only in how insecure he seemed, but also how he seemed to give Kaito information, as well as reminding him on what he actually needs to do. “... What’s this about a theft? I haven’t heard anything about it on the news…”

Idabashi sighs, adjusting the glasses on his face once more before giving a somewhat apologetic look to Keebo. “... A few weeks ago, someone broke in and stole a part for the generator. It was one of the electricity conductors. As well as some prototypes for a few other projects. If it was not for my son and Miu, the project would have been delayed even more than it already was…”

Before Kaito could question any further, the ding of an elevator resounds across the room, making all four of them turn in the direction of it. Only a few moments later did Rantaro Amami appear, almost looking hostile for once. His hair seemed more unruly than usual, his casual clothes almost rumpled in appearance, as if someone grabbed him by the shirt and raised him into the air.

Rantaro’s eyes looked over each person in the room, first Keebo, who was almost a shivering mess at this point. To Miu, who was almost in the same state, the robotic arms on her back almost seeming to reflect her state. Then to Idabashi, who stared right back at the much shorter man.

Finally, his gaze settled on Kaito, who allowed the camera to lower back to his chest, raising his hands in a surrender position as he took a step back. “H-Hey, whatever I supposedly did, I didn’t do it. I’ve been here the entire time…”

Rantaro’s glare remains for only a few minutes longer before he finally shuts his eyes, an exhausted sigh leaving his mouth as he ran a hand down his face. “... I’m sorry, but I’ll have to cut this short. My father wants everyone that isn’t involved with any current projects to leave the building now.”

At first, Kaito opens his mouth to question the other man as to why before he stops, realizing that questioning Rantaro now would probably only upset the other man. Instead, he simply nods his head, following Rantaro back to the elevator as he waves goodbye. “Dr. Idabashi, Keebo. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you for allowing me to take photos of your projects.”

”H-Hey! What about me you little-?”

Before Miu could finish, Kaito quickly enters the elevator after Rantaro, the doors shutting right behind him. Quickly though, his smile vanishes as a tense atmosphere takes over the elevator, with Rantaro mumbling under his breath as he swipes his ID card on the scanner. “That stupid old man, using himself as a test subject for some science experiment. Just because someone stole some stuff from him doesn’t mean that he should do this... His paranoia is going to kill him one day, I swear…”

”... Are you talking about the-?”

The elevator stops before Kaito can finish, the ride almost seeming faster than last time, yet when Kaito looks back at Rantaro, his troubled look is gone, although his somewhat rugged appearance remained. “... I’m sorry about that. Today’s just been really rough for me, you know? We all just have some bad days.”

The laugh he gives off is obviously forced, but Kaito can’t help but awkwardly laugh in return. What exactly was he supposed to say? “Y-Yeah, I get it… It’s fine, man. Tenko’s just going to throw me for not getting enough pictures, but hey, what else is new?”

”Ah, well, I don’t have any good advice on that end.” While Kaito steps off the elevator, Rantaro remains inside, giving one final wave goodbye as he gave Kaito a strained smile. “Well, see ya later man.”

Kaito can, once again, only wave goodbye in return, waiting until the elevator doors closed before dropping his smile, giving a tired sigh as he began walking towards the lobby’s exit.

For a second, he instead focuses on the pictures he had taken, scrolling through them quickly to see which ones were good, and which ones he could delete.

Quickly, with little thought, he discards a few them, while keeping a few, before stopping on one, his eyes narrowing in confusion.

In the photo was what he believed was some sort of jet-pack at the time but, upon closer inspection, seemed to be like some sort of hoverboard. Unlike the ones he had seen in Back to the Future however, this one was bigger and a lot more dangerous. It resembled the shape of a glider with two long blades strapped to the front, with what seemed like the guns strapped to the sides of it. “... What is something like this doing in the electronics department..?”

He stares at the photo for a few seconds longer before swiping to the next one, not yet deleting it. Instead, he decides to throw that question in the growing pile of mysteries related to Rantaro Amami and the company his father owned, and he’ll, hopefully, have them all answered tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, there's a distinct lack of Spiderman action in this chapter but i promise. i swear. he will come back. Soon. most likely in the next chapter. but hey enjoy previews of future villains as you wait!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter! Feedback is welcomed and appreciated. I hope you all have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!

**Author's Note:**

> henlo it's 1 am when I finished this and it's so short but I will write a lot more in the future so hhhhhhh I hope yall enjoy this au!!! Special thanks to Eddy for giving me some amazing ideas for it, couldn't have been done without you man!
> 
> Anyway, comments and feedback are appreciated, and I hope yall have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening!


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